Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: We will survive this (Washington Post)
If the president stands in the bow and fires his peashooter at the storm, life nonetheless will go on.
Mark Morford: Sorry, but McCain is still no hero to the Left (SF Gate)
Meanwhile, the Dems were 100% united, all the way through the GOP's horrific repeal effort. They have rallied, fought, protested, did everything possible to support the fundamental rights and health care protections of millions of people. And do not forget Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, who were there first and, in the case of Murkowski at least, never wavered; they certainly deserve far more praise than John McCain.
Andrew Tobias: Do the Math
"Countries from Canada to China have in various ways announced that since Washington cannot be relied on to shape the global agenda anymore, others will step in its place." - Fareed Zakaria
Rebecca Nicholson: I used to love train travel - but it has become an inexcusable rip-off (The Guardian)
Five hours on a train enjoying the view and listening to music is much better than chucking another car on the road. It shouldn't be a luxury.
Stuart Heritage: "How to join Rotten Tomatoes' Zero Per Cent Club" (The Guardian)
The Emoji Movie was - briefly - awarded 0% on the review aggregating site. What does it take to earn membership of this most exclusive band?
Lucy Mangan says we should all "think twice" before considering porn harmless (Stylist)
As the girls' questions about what I was nostalgically pleased to learn is still called 'doing it' went on, a light dawned. "You do realise," my friend said hesitantly, "that you're supposed to enjoy it?" A dozen suspicious and baffled faces stared back at her. This, it seemed, was new information to them all. She spent the next hour deconstructing various myths and painful practices they and their boyfriends had come to define, thanks to barely filtered access to all sorts of porn, as well within normal adolescent activity.
Lucy Mangan: 10 changes we can expect from the first woman Doctor Who (Sydney Morning Herald)
So, what changes will we see under the first double-Xed Doctor in Whovian history? No leaks as yet but the possibilities include: 1. Pre-credits sequence of her wearily explaining to everyone she meets that, no, it's not "Nurse Who".
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Message to the WH
The first email I ever sent was to Newt Gingrich. Mentioned that I currently live in the area but grew up in Georgia. Said that I knew he was soon vacating office and offered my service to help him get out of town.
Have just sent the following message to Trump:
I understand that you feel that my country's White House is a dump. I am incensed at your opinion. I would be happy to help you pack up and get out permanently. I will devote as much time and labor as needed. You may call upon my services any day. I live to serve.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME."
KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
HATE FINDS A WAY.
IF THEY'RE WHITE IT'S ALRIGHT. BLACK OR BROWN. TURN THEM DOWN.
LET THE SUN SHINE!
LET THE SUN SHINE! PART TWO.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running late - spent the afternoon behind the 'Orange Curtain', at the OC Fair.
Accused Of Concocting 'Fake News' For T-rump
Rupert
Fox News contrived with a Donald Trump (R-Corrupt) supporter and the White House to fabricate "fake news" to advance the president's agenda and try to bury speculation that his campaign colluded with Russia, a lawsuit is claiming.
The suit, filed at the US federal court house in Manhattan on Tuesday, is brought by Rod Wheeler, a Fox News contributor and retired police detective, against the television network, one of its journalists and another of its contributors.
It alleges a May 16 article sought to promote a claim that a murdered Democratic National Committee staffer was the source of leaked DNC emails during last year's election campaign, and not Russian hackers as the US intelligence community said.
"The motivation behind the article.... shift the blame from Russia and help put to bed speculation that President Trump colluded with Russia in an attempt to influence the outcome of the presidential election," the 33-page suit alleges.
It quoted one of the defendants -- wealthy Trump supporter Ed Butowsky -- as claiming that the US president reviewed the article "prior to its publication and sought to get the article published 'immediately.'"
Rupert
Pro-Trump Mayor Questions
Al Gore
An enthusiastic supporter of the president who is mayor of a Virginia island that's sinking into the Chesapeake Bay got a chance to challenge former Vice President Al Gore on climate change during a town hall Tuesday night.
Tangier Island Mayor James "Ooker" Eskridge told Gore that erosion is the real culprit for his shrinking island, not sea level rise.
"I'm not a scientist, but I'm a keen observer. If sea level rise is occurring, why am I not seeing signs of it?" Eskridge asked during the town hall that aired on CNN. Participants had screened Gore's new documentary, "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power."
Scientists say Tangier Island is eroding into the bay while sea levels are rising against its shores. Studies predict its dwindling population of 460 people may have to abandon Tangier in 25 to 50 years - if not sooner.
But Eskridge, 58, a lifelong waterman who harvests crabs from the bay, was among the 87 percent of voters in this deeply spiritual community who supported Trump.
Al Gore
Melting Arctic Ice Could Weaken
Gulf Stream
The loss of Arctic sea ice as a result of global warming could have dramatic and potentially catastrophic effects on the climate of much of the northern hemisphere, according to a new report.
Scientists at Yale University and the University of Southampton recently demonstrated that the ongoing loss of sea ice is actively changing one of Earth's main systems for transporting water - the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
To put it simply, AMOC circulates cold, dense water from the north Atlantic southward and warm, salty water from the tropical Atlantic northward. This system, which includes the Gulf Stream, plays a major role in maintaining the global climate, and its deterioration could have a dramatic impact.
"We have shown that this contraction of Arctic sea ice leads over the course of several decades to the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation," climate scientist and study co-author Alexey Fedorov told Yahoo News.
Conventional thinking maintained that a weakening of ocean water circulation would prevent warm water from reaching the Arctic - resulting in a growth of sea ice. According to the researchers, however, this overlooks the mechanism by which the loss of sea ice affects AMOC over the course of decades.
Gulf Stream
Endangered Species List
Great Lakes Wolves
A federal appeals court Tuesday retained federal protection for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region, ruling that the government made crucial errors when it dropped them from the endangered species list five years ago.
The court upheld a district judge who overruled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which had determined that wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin had recovered after being shot, trapped and poisoned nearly out of existence in the previous century. They've bounced back and now total about 3,800.
Even so, courts have sided with environmental groups led by the Humane Society of the United States, which have sued to block the service's repeated efforts to strip wolves in the region of their protected status and put states in charge of them. The service made its latest attempt in 2011. U.S. Judge Beryl A. Howell struck down the plan three years later.
In a 3-0 ruling Tuesday, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the service had not sufficiently considered important factors. They included how loss of historical territory would affect the predator's recovery and how removing the Great Lakes population segment from the endangered list would affect wolves in other parts of the nation.
As long as wolves are on the protected list, they cannot be killed unless human life is at risk. That means the three states cannot resume the hunting and trapping seasons they had when wolves were under their control.
Great Lakes Wolves
Former Justice Department Official Joins Team
Mueller
A former U.S. Justice Department official has become the latest lawyer to join special counsel Robert Mueller's team investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election, a spokesman for the team confirmed.
Greg Andres started on Tuesday, becoming the 16th lawyer on the team, said Josh Stueve, a spokesman for the special counsel.
Most recently a white-collar criminal defense lawyer with New York law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, Andres, 50, served at the Justice Department from 2010 to 2012. He was deputy assistant attorney general in the criminal division, where he oversaw the fraud unit and managed the program that targeted illegal foreign bribery.
That Mueller continues to expand his team means the probe is not going to end anytime soon, said Robert Ray, who succeeded Kenneth Starr as independent counsel for the Whitewater investigation during the Clinton administration.
Mueller
Back Taxes
3 Appointees
At least three of Donald Trump's (R-Crooked) political appointees are drawing taxpayer-funded paychecks while owing the Internal Revenue Service tens of thousands of dollars, a Center for Public Integrity review of federal financial disclosures reveals.
Trump himself has yet to address the issue in any meaningful way. Meanwhile, a bill aimed in part at disqualifying serious tax scofflaws from federal employment has languished since Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced it in January. (Chaffetz resigned in June.)
White House spokeswoman Natalie Strom declined to answer questions about the White House's policies on employing people who owe the IRS money or whether Trump himself would like his appointees to retire their IRS debts.
The Trump administration officials' IRS debts were spotted by reporters and volunteers for #CitizenSleuth, a project launched last month by the Center for Public Integrity and Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting. The crowd-sourced investigation is examining detailed financial disclosures from more than 400 top Trump administration officials and nominees, including nearly 190 who reported owing someone money - from student loans to mortgages to credit card debt.
The Trump appointees reporting money owed to the federal government include Justin Clark, a prominent Trump White House aide, who owes up to $50,000 in back taxes, according to disclosure records.
3 Appointees
New Baby-Sitters Club
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Baby Man) can't be left alone to make decisions regarding matters of national security-at least, that is reportedly the view of his new chief of staff, John Kelly, and of his defense secretary, James Mattis.
The two military men, who Trump affectionately refers to as "my generals," hatched a plan during the initial months of his presidency to ensure he wasn't left alone while in the U.S., the Associated Press reported Tuesday. Kelly and Mattis agreed to schedule their travel arrangements so at least one of them could be physically accessible to the new president at all times, an official with knowledge of the pact said.
As Trump's new chief of staff and leader of his defense department, both Kelly and Mattis will likely continue to face hurdles in their Cabinet positions-even near the president's side.
The two top Trump aides also scrambled to deal with the fallout from his decision to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military, after he disclosed the move on Twitter and gave Mattis just one day to get ahead of the announcement. The defense secretary was reportedly appalled by idea, after lobbying Republicans for months to prevent a funding bill that would block money for transgender service members undergoing transition surgery or hormone therapy.
Kelly will now be closer to the president than ever before as his newly appointed chief of staff, tasked with bringing stability and control to an embattled White House facing federal investigations.
T-rump
Deny Claim
Boy Scouts
The Boy Scouts of America is disputing Donald Trump's (R-Fabulist) claim that group leaders told him his was "the greatest" speech that was ever made to them.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, the president said his speech _ which was unusually political for a Boy Scout event _ had been praised by group leaders in a transcript released by Politico.
"I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them, and they were very thankful," Trump said, also disputing claims the crowd gave a mixed reaction to the controversial speech.
"And by the way, I'd be the first to admit mixed. I'm a guy that will tell you mixed. There was no mix there. That was a standing ovation from the time I walked out to the time I left, and for five minutes after I had already gone. There was no mix," the president added.
But Scout leaders, who were forced to apologize for Trump's remarks after he boasted about his election victory, criticized former president Barack Obama and discussed New York parties with "the hottest people," appeared to dispute the claim that they told Trump he gave "the greatest" speech.
Boy Scouts
Won't Stay Off Social Media
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Buffoon) may be trying for a reset in the West Wing, but he is making clear that he is not changing his twitter habit.
On Twitter Tuesday, Trump said: "Only the Fake News Media and Trump enemies want me to stop using Social Media (110 million people). Only way for me to get the truth out!"
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-Narnia), speaking on NBC's "Today Show," said he was encouraged by Kelly's new role, but stressed that he was looking for "discipline" from Trump in order to move forward with issues like health care and tax reform.
"He has an obligation to be president for all of us and stop the chaos. Most of the chaos is generated by him and no one else," Graham said.
T-rump
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